1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a utility software program adapted for use with an electronic countermeasures system. In particular, the present invention relates to an IBM compatible utility software program which is adapted to format the Operational Flight Program and the User Data File software for the AN/ALQ-165 Deceptive Electronic Countermeasures set, which is also referred to as the Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ) used on the F/A-18 Aircraft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently the Operational Flight Program and the User Data File software for the AN/ALQ-165 Deceptive Electronic Countermeasures set is generated using software tools hosted on a Digital Equipment Corporation VAX 3500 computer. The VAX 3500 computer is connected via an IEEE-488 bus to an interface board in an Applied Technology""s Advanced Computer (ATAC) Support Equipment system. The Advanced Computer Support Equipment System communicates via an RS-422 serial interface with a multiplexer circuit inside the main computer (referred to as the Weapons Replaceable Assembly 3 or WRA-3) of the AN/ALQ-165. The multiplexer circuit, in turn, can communicate with either of two central processing units referred to as processing elements 1 and 2 which reside within the main computer of the AN/ALQ-165.
A VAX computer software utility, referred to as the ATAC Monitor program, is used to load Operational Flight Program and User Data File data into RAM memory in processing element 1 or processing element 2 address space. An ATAC executable program, referred to as the xe2x80x9cLoaderxe2x80x9d is then loaded into AN/ALQ-165 memory. When executed, the xe2x80x9cLoaderxe2x80x9d reads command block data from a designated area in RAM which defines the addresses and sizes of RAM segments to program into the EEPROM non-volatile memory of the main computer of the AN/ALQ-165. The xe2x80x9cLoaderxe2x80x9d converts the input data in ram to an ATAC download record format before writing the data to the EEPROM non-volatile memory of the main computer of the AN/ALQ-165.
When all AN/ALQ-65 software modules have been programmed and verified by the xe2x80x9cLoaderxe2x80x9d program the WRA-3 computer may be used as a software master program to generate memory loader tapes. An AN/ASM-687 Advanced Memory Loader/Verifier is a test set used to generate tape transport cartridges for the F/A-18 aircraft.
To generate a tape transport cartridge the AN/ASM-687 Advanced Memory Loader/Verifier is coupled to the Military Standard 1553 multiplex data bus from an Airborne Self Protection Jammer is a spread bench and performs a file Save operation by enabling certain discrete signals which place the Airborne Self Protection Jammer WRA-3 computer in a reprogram mode. In this mode a bootstrap loader program in the Airborne Self Protection Jammer WRA-3 computer saves and verifies software through either of the pair of MIL-1553 multiplex buses on board the aircraft.
After generating a master tape transport memory cartridge from a pre-programmed WRA-3 computer, the Advanced Memory Loader/Verifier provides load and verify capability for the Operational Flight Program and the User Data File software for the AN/ALQ-165 on board the aircraft.
USQ-131 Memory Loader/Verifier set is also being used to reprogram the AN/ALQ-165 Deceptive Electronic Countermeasures set on board the F/A-18 C/D aircraft and F/A-18 E/F aircraft. The USQ-131 Memory Loader Verifier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,307,505; 5,349,685 and 5,390,356. While the Memory Loader Verifier disclosed in these patents includes download and file save features, current production USQ-131 Memory Loader Verifiers do not have these download and file save capabilities.
The F/A-18 C/D aircraft is generally used abroad with the foreign users not having access to VAX computer hardware and VAX based loading tools. However, the USQ-131 Memory Loader Verifier will be supplied to foreign users with the F/A-18 C/D aircraft. This, in turn, necessitates that the Operational Flight Program and the User Data File software files be in an IBM PC DOS compatible format.
The present invention overcomes some of the difficulties of the prior art including those mentioned above in that it comprises a highly effective utility program which provides the Operational Flight Program (OPF) and the User Data File (UDF) software files for an AN/ALQ- 165 Deceptive Electronic Countermeasures set in an IBM PC DOS compatible format.
The software program of the present invention comprises a personal computer based software utility program that emulates a Digital Equipment Corporation VAX computer based loader program. The software program reads Operational Flight Program and User Data File ATAC Bootstrap Loader format files from personal computer disk files. It writes ATAC Download Record format binary files to a personal computer disk.
The output file format provided by the software program of the present invention comprises one contiguous block of data having one or more data records, one BIT table and one End-of-File record.